Currently-available “smart switches” to control lighting fall into several categories. The first category of currently-available switches provide remote electrical switching capabilities, but do not provide dimming or smart light source control. A second category of currently-available switches provides remote electrical switching capabilities with dimming, but does not provide smart light source control. A third category of currently-available switches provides smart light source control, but does not provide control of traditional light sources.
Although traditional dimmer switches can used with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), they can cause flickering and shortened lifespan due to multiple re-strikes. Dimmer switches that are compatible with CLFs and LED (light emitting diode) light sources typically have dimmers with complex matrixes that govern which light sources (i.e., bulbs) can be used.
In present lighting systems, smart light sources can be made inaccessible by a remote control source when power is switched off at a switch, rather than using software controls. Moreover, current smart light sources can only be controlled via software controls. That is, if a user attempts to control a smart light source with a traditional dimmer switch, the dimmer switch will not be able to control a dimming operation or any other operation of the smart light source.